title: Advanced paternal age at birth: phenotypic and etiologic associations with eating pathology in offspring.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Advanced paternal age at birth has been linked to several psychiatric disorders in offspring (e.g. schizophrenia) and genetic mechanisms are thought to underlie these associations. This study is the first to investigate whether advanced paternal age at birth is associated with eating disorder risk using a twin study design capable of examining both phenotypic and genetic associations.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a large, population-based sample of female twins aged 8-17 years in mid-puberty or beyond (n = 1722), we investigated whether advanced paternal age was positively associated with disordered eating symptoms and an eating disorder history [i.e. anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) or binge eating disorder (BED)] in offspring. Biometric twin models examined whether genetic and/or environmental factors underlie paternal age effects for disordered eating symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Advanced paternal age was positively associated with disordered eating symptoms and an eating disorder history, where the highest level of pathology was observed in offspring born to fathers ⩾40 years old. The results were not accounted for by maternal age at birth, body mass index (BMI), socio-economic status (SES), fertility treatment or parental psychiatric history. Twin models indicated decreased genetic, and increased environmental, effects on disordered eating with advanced paternal age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Advanced paternal age increased risk for the full spectrum of eating pathology, independent of several important covariates. However, contrary to leading hypotheses, environmental rather than genetic factors accounted for paternal age-disordered eating associations. These data highlight the need to explore novel (potentially environmental) mechanisms underlying the effects of advanced paternal age on offspring eating disorder risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Racine
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Culbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Burt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Klump
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010331:Paternal Age; D010641:Phenotype; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*